'Beyond' - Mao Asada's 2nd National Tour

Ritual Fire

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Mao on her Instagram:

BEYOND will start tomorrow! My heart is full of feelings that cannot be expressed in words.

I will do my best to deliver the world of BEYOND to everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing you! It's cold in the venue rink, so please bring warm clothes with you.

 

Ritual Fire

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Professional skater Ryo Shibata works as Mao Asada's partner in "BEYOND"


Ryo Shibata (35), a figure skater from Kushiro City, will appear in the ice show "BEYOND", which starts at the Shiga Prefectural Ice Arena on September 10. He will challenge the pair program with Mao Asada (31), who also serves as chairperson. We talked about his enthusiasm for the nationwide tour that will continue until March 2023.

Interviewer: Kana Hosaka


-- on joining the BEYOND team

Around the summer of last year, I got a call from Mao-chan asking me if I wanted to work with her. At the time, I was busy working as an instructor at the Meiji Jingu Gaien ice skating rink, but I had the opportunity to meet her in person at a later date, and she told me about her thoughts on the new show and what she wanted to try. When I heard Mao-chan's idea of "evolving," I wanted to try it myself. After that, I participated in the casting audition and was able to pass. We started practicing in November [2021], and we all did what we did. Just put it out in production.

-- on being Asada's partner in pair skating

It was the first time for Mao-chan to skate seriously as a pair skater, but it was so smooth from the beginning that it didn't feel like it was her first time. Her core is so strong that she doesn't shake even when doing lifts. When the girl above is shaky, you become unstable below, but she's not at all. I had no trouble with her, and we could easily do what we wanted. It took me a while to match the timing of Mao-chan's jumping throw with me supporting her, but other than that, it went smoothly.

-- on the upcoming performance in Kushiro in December

I'm so happy to do the show in my hometown. Looking forward to seeing family and friends. I want to manage my physical condition well so that I can travel around the country without injury until March next year.
 
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cohkaix

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Updating the news about the opening show (this post will keep on being updated):

  • News link: (In Japanese), reports on the 1st show. One of the numbers is to 'Sing, sing sing'.
  • News link 2: (In Japanese)
  • News link 3: (In Japanese), reports with more photos. The opening numbers also include 'I got rhythm'. There's the pair number (which we already knew). And Mao is bringing back the 'Ballad No. 1' (!!!)
  • Other numbers from fan's reporting: Sheherazade, Swan Lake, Caprice, Ladies in Lavender
  • News link 4: (in Japanese) the 'country style' costume is cute!!
  • Other numbers from fan's reporting: Fantaisie-Impromptu, Csárdás, Liebesträume
 
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cohkaix

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I'm BEYOND happy that Mao brings back her Ballad No. 1!!!!!!
(And I'm dying to see Mao's ballet programs, I know she's been drilling on her ballet skills with a professional ballet dancer.)
 
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Ritual Fire

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the 'country style' costume is cute!

I wonder what number it is .. Czardas? I Got Rhythm?

EDIT: this is I Got Rhythm, the 2nd number on the list. Nikkan reported.

No photos from Swan Lake or Ballade were published yet, and most of the show program is still hidden from our imagination. They are doing that 'no spoiler' thing together with Mao-chan. 😎

I'm hungry for video highlights from the official channel or any TV channel.
 
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Ritual Fire

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Looks like Scheherazade is THE pair program. Wow.

(It's not 100% but some twits giving a 99% hint that it is. Calling it "adult" and "classy".)

EDIT: Yes it is. Confirmed!

The list of the songs AND performers is what we need. 😍
 
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YukiNieve

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Fans in Japan who luckily saw the first show today were all raving about it!

According to a fan's tweets, the list of music seems to be (some may be missing):

  • Sing sing sing *
  • I got rhythm *
  • Lavender
  • Carmen
  • Chopin Ballad #1 *
  • Fantaisie-Impromptu *
  • Swan Lake *
  • Czardas
  • Caprice * - Mao's solo performance
  • Liebesträume *
  • Beyond Theme Music *

(* includes Mao's performance)

Tango (Schnittke) was also used. 
 

cohkaix

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The tour is moving on to the 2nd stop, Aomori (Hachinohe). It looks like Mai (Mao's sister) is visiting the tour 🥰:

 

Ritual Fire

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Mao-chan:
"The Aomori performances are over! Thank you all for coming. Next is the Hyogo performance."
She posted a couple of photos and video moments from the closing number, take a look!

A few more photos on BEYOND Instagram:
 
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cohkaix

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Mao-chan:

A few more photos on BEYOND Instagram:
Okay, now I get what's been passing on from Twitter about Yamato Sensei and Mao (the 2nd and 3rd photos from the above link):

So they kneeled down to take a bow to each other at the end of the performance. It's just great that Yamato Sensei can join the tour!
 

Ritual Fire

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Another video from the official channel! Including a few seconds of Mao in Scheherazade.


The perfomances in Kushiro (Hokkaido prefecture) are coming soon. Shu Nakamura and Ryo Shibata are both from Kushiro so they invite everyone to come see BEYOND.
 
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gotoschool

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Happy birthday to Mao Asada. Thanks for all the great performances filled with magnificent artistry and technical excellence and for inspiring a new generation of skaters through which your elegant influence can be seen in the skating rink.
 

cohkaix

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The tour has moved on to Kanagawa this weekend. And it happens that Maia and Alex Shibutani are currently visiting Japan. So they took the chance to join one of Mao's shows in Kanagawa:

 

Ritual Fire

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TKU Live News uploaded this video with about 3 minutes of BEYOND in Fukuoka! Starting at 0:18 -
  • the opening moments 🎩
  • I Got Rhythm, including Mao-chan the orchestra conductor 😎
  • Scheherezade moments (wow & wow)
  • the Nakamura Tamura Yamamoto trio in Pick Yourself Up
  • Lavender (Haru-chan is flying)
  • Schehere again + Mao talking to the press
"People have to deal with lots of difficulties in their daily lives, and I'd like to give them hope and help them a little with our BEYOND story. Until the lights go out and the sound disappears, everything is one stage with many highlights. Because it's an ice show that I've made without compromising with all my heart".


Take a look!
 

cohkaix

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There was a special documentary on the 1-yr long preparation work for 'Beyond' tour by NHK broadcasted last night. The documentary was promoted as a special documentary of Mao and a famous Japanese Movie actress, Sayuri Yoshinaga (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayuri_Yoshinaga). It's kind of interesting, as the promotion included the phrase 'meeting with Sayuri Yoshinaga', but there was no section of face-to-face talking or filming together of Yoshinaga and Mao in the documentary. Instead, the documentary was more about the preparation work during the past year for the whole tour.

(Luckily, some Man fan on twitter shared a link to the complete documentary, so I was able to watch to whole video) Some quick notes about what happened:

  • The documentary goes all the way back to Nov. last year, and records the formation of the tour throughout the year.
  • There were about 150 skaters audited for the tour.
  • Originally the opening date was set to be in Apr. 2022, but things happen in between. So it was delayed until Sept.
  • Mao watched Beijing Oly, and cheered for Kaori when she won a medal.
  • Mao trained continuously for ballet (and tap dance).
  • In the choreography of the number 'Fantaisie-Impromptu', the tour members worked with a choreographer to put the number in form of 'formation dance' (the choreographer works for Japanese idol groups). So it's a totally new performance genre.
  • During the interview, Mao was asked: 'the thing you cannot do now, compared to the time as a competitor?' Mao answered: '3A, that's a difficult jump. And now it's not possible for me to jump it.' As for 'the thing you become able to do?' Mao answered: 'I came to love FS from the bottom of my heart :saint:'
  • There was a period of time when the practice & preparation for the tour was stopped for a while. One main reason was that Mao was caught in Covid during March. She said she had high fever for 4 days and could do nothing during that time. (And it probably took her a while to recover from that afterwards)
  • Mao said she's never being the 'strong' type of skater: instead she has been the 'weak' type, especially before the competitions in the past. (When asked about what happened during Sochi Oly, she said it's probably the most heartbreaking point in her competitive career.)
  • [Additional note: Ernesto was seen in the early part of the practices, not Yamato coach. Yamato only showed up very late, probably until the tour was about to begin. And too bad Erne still cannot join the tour now.]
There are also short clips of 'Fantaisie-Impromptu' and 'Sheherazade' (pair) from the Beyond tour. I always love when Mao has an updo hairstyle in skating: perhaps more formal, but she always looks so sublimed, as this one in the recent IG post for the Ballade No. 1 number:


And finally, the finale number is of the theme 'the phoenix'. So now I get those furry costumes in the finale!
 

Ritual Fire

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The BEYOND tour goes on and, considering lots of requests, 4 more venues have been added to the schedule! Mao-chan and her gang are not going to finish it in March, no way.

~ April 22-23 in Tochigi
~ May 13-14 in Hokkaido (Sapporo)
~ May 27-28 in Niigata
~ June 10-11 in Aichi


Time to update post#1 @cohkaix !😉
 
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cohkaix

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'Beyond' - Determination & Evolution

For Mao Asada's national tour around Japan (2nd time)

Official website (in Japanese): https://beyond-maotour.jp

Tour schedule:
I'm not sure if I can edit my original post, but here's the updated schedule of the tour. BTW, welcome Ernesto back to the tour!!
  • Sept 10~11: Shiga
  • Sept 17~19: Aomori
  • Oct 1~2: Hyogo
  • Oct 9~10: Hokkaido I
  • Oct 15~16: Kanagawa
  • Oct 27~30: Fukuoka
  • Nov 3~6: Akita
  • Nov 12~13: Kyoto
  • Nov 25~27: Tokyo I
  • Dec 3~4: Hokkaido II
  • Dec 17~18: Aichi
  • [2023]
  • Jan 14~15: Hiroshima
  • Jan 21~22: Nagano
  • Feb 4~5: Kumamoto
  • Feb 11~12: Yamanashi
  • Mar 4~5: Osaka
  • Mar 17~19: Tokyo, Tachikawa, Tachihi *Mao's new home rink
  • [Adding] April 22-23 in Tochigi
  • [Adding] May 13-14 in Hokkaido (Sapporo)
  • [Adding] May 27-28 in Niigata
  • [Adding] June 10-11 in Aichi
 

Ritual Fire

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Mao the White Swan 🦢


I like the second one most but all the three photos are cool. Can't wait to see the number.
 

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